Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy
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Plant sentience: Bias and promise
No full textWhichever side of the debate one chooses, plant sentience is a fertile research area that challenges received views and assumptions, generates novel insights, and suggests new ways that felt states might arise. My commentary discusses methodological and philosophical implications
Animal communication and sentience
No full textSegundo-Ortin & Calvo (S&C) argue for sentience in plants on the basis of several studies of what they describe as cognitive abilities in plants. As other commentaries (e.g., Brooks Pribac, 2023; Damasio & Damasio, 2023; ten Cate, 2023) have pointed out, however, there is some misuse of several concepts, and a lack of evidence for sentience. We try to clarify three questions in S&C’s discussion: (1) How is communication defined and conceptualised in animal research? (2) Is plant communication comparable to animal communication? (3) Is communication (or the process we see in plants) a good basis for inferring sentience in plants
Big Fish Populations and Ecosystem Health
No full textBig fish such as sharks and tuna provide important ecosystem and tourist benefits
COP28: Running out of Time
No full text2023 is the warmest year on record as countries gather in Dubai to discuss what to do
The Socialization of Willie B. - Part 2
No full textThis tale is the second in a three-part series about Willie B., Atlanta’s iconic ape and one of the most famous gorillas in the world
The Asian Elephant: Training and Control (Part 2)
No full textThe authors describe the challenges in ensuring that elephants are trained so that human caretakers can safely work with them
Rhino Conservation in Africa
No full textThe recovery of white rhinos from a small population of 20 animals in 1895 to tens of thousands today is a major conservation success story, but we are again facing a rapid decline in the numbers of both species of African rhinoceros due mainly to poaching. Demand for rhino horn, mainly from the Far East, has led to an epidemic of poaching. The healthy population of white rhinos in South Africa’s Kruger National Park has fallen from just under 12,000 individuals in 2010 to around 2,200 in 2022. At the current rate of decline, white rhinos will be eliminated from the park by 2025. Today, the future of rhino conservation primarily lies in the hands of private wildlife conservancies, but the costs of protecting those rhinos from poachers have increased rapidly, and African rhino populations are again under serious threat
Animal Rights Law
No full textThis volume by Raffael Fasel and Sean Butler is the first comprehensive text supporting a course on animal rights law
Appraising evidence for valence
No full textI make some remarks about whether evidence of valenced responses constitutes evidence of valenced states, and therefore of sentience, in organisms
Monkey Business
No full textLaboratory primate supply is a continuing challenge for the biomedical research establishment